Did any of my future sabal palmetto seeds blow away? ;-)

Everything looks great. Tell me your house doesn't get that crammed with plumerias during the winter too? It's one of the reasons I downsized my potted plant collection in favor of planting hardy palms and bananas in my garden instead.

Many of us dodged a bullet even though it was pretty rough going during the height of the storm. We gratefully didn't even lose power. So sad that Vermont has received so much of the damage. It is often the case when tropical systems go into mountainous regions.

Glad all is well.

Hey Vince,

Most of the Plumeria will go dormant and i will prepare them to get ready for the winter by taking the leaves off then putting them to rest in the backroom. (that will be in November)

Some of the little ones will go inside the greenhouse, so i wont have that type of crowding like you did just see! LOL..I think i would be pushing it if i had that many plants inside during the winter.

All of your seed pods look great..You can see the Sabal in the corner that i kept the pods on for you!!! They are huge already, so when they are ready to cut down, ill let you know!!!

We did really dodge a bullet. I was thinking of you when i heard of the tornado hitting Lewes. Im so glad to hear that it didnt do any damage to you and your property!!!

As you can tell, i do love my palms and i do Love my Plumeria!!! Its really a bad addiction!!! LOL But what can i do? I have been told that i could be the president of the Plumeria addicts association for the east coast!!! LOL....maybe next year!!!

Take care Vince and im so glad everything is good with you up in Delmarva!!!!

Chat soon!!!

Laura in VB

When do you think the sabal seeds are ripe for harvesting? I've done some web research and most say they ripen by late fall or early winter. Since you're probably at the north end of their propagating zone, probably closer to winter. I'll come down and cut them off for you. So nice of you to put up with the " ugliness " of all those seeds. LOL!

WOW!

Swimming in your front yard,lets not do that again
anytime soon!(-:

Looks like you made it through o.k. nice to see.

I would have been tempted to go jet skiing in my neighborhood
for sure-but if I was still paying on them -maybe not!

Sometimes you just have to settle for swimming in the front yard I guess(-;

Awesome pics Laura, Im glad your plumerias weathered the storm very well indoors! Looks like the tide got very high in your yard!

Your palms are looking amazing like always!

Thanks for sharing! Thankfully Irene wasnt as bad as forecasted!

-Alex

Hi Laura,

How are the friendly skys..lol. I bet you have some good stories.

You sure did dodge a bullet. The wind and rain I saw at VB on the weather channel looked very strong. Alas, palms are designed to weather tropical systems. Once a hurricane exceedes cat 3, all bets are off including swims:)

You must have $100,000 plumeria collection. That giant one is impressive.

Your yard looks phenomenal! I'm so jealous, I wish I could live in a climate and have such happy healthy palms. I also love the row of plumerias. Glad to see you got spared from the cane.

Hello Everyone,

JIm,

LOL!!! We could have taken the jet skies out for ride in the neighborhood...but i was tired of being wet all day...By the time it was at the higest tide..my DH asked if i was ready to go back down and check on the lines.. I finally gave him the "look" as to say that ive had enough!!! After the last check on the lines, we lost power...it wasn't a fun night!!! Crickets and all other sounds in the house with all of the plants inside...That was enough to keep you up all night!!!

Alex,

Thanks for the nice comments...im glad that you made it through without to much damage...im sure you had a mess to clean up in your yard as well.

Greg,

The skies were not to friendly..LOL especially when you are caught in uniform in the terminal...you have to dodge the people because they want to do terrible things to us when they are so frustrated..which i cant blame them, but its not our fault..it mother nature...LOL!!!

As far as the value on the plumeria..LOL i dont think its that much!!! But they are "priceless" to me!!!

Bradleyo,

Thank you so much for the kind compliments!!!!

Where do you live?

The "wall of Plumeria" are back in place for the next several months. This is the best year for inflos for me. It does take several years to have blooms on these tropicals...and i have been so patient with them...Now i am finally seeing the results on taking care of them and encouraging them to produce inflorences for me (blooms)

We are very lucky to have been spared the big one..it did hit our area in VB and seemed to stall over us for to long...but, all is well and noone around me or any family members had any trouble..so, Im very thankful!!!

Take care everyone,

Laura in VB

Glad you make it through safely and used wisdom with the fustrated folks.

"Thankfully, Irene wasn't as bad as forecasted!"

Oh, I beg to differ. For many, it was far WORSE than forecasted! This was not a bad hurricane or tropical storm in terms of winds, but it caused enormous damage in terms of rain falls from NJ into New England.--(Most of the rains seemed to fall west of the Hudson though.) It seems that there will be a repeat performance of wet but not too wind tropical storm along the Gulf Coast this weekend. Up to 20 inches of rain will fall in some areas from another, slow moving tropical storm. PS., This has been the first time since last Sunday that I've been able to sit down (with consistent electricity) without...bailing out water from the house, cleaning, disinfecting, repainting, throwing out flood damaged items, etc.. And I am not even in the flood zone.

Laura, Everything looks GREAT! Almost like it never even happened! Glad everything came through OK. That must have been some chore putting all those plumies and other plants inside. Is that where you keep them during winter?

Thanks for sharing your photos. Glad you and all your plants are good!
Btw.. that is a beautiful Adenium Obesum!

It sure does look like nothing major happened to your area. Up along the NJ/NY coastline, the wind impact was much less than forecast. I was glad for that. After the hurricane passed we were struck with 40-60 mph winds without rain. But our area did not see a true hurricane, it should have been downgraded to a TS.

Hello Everyone,

Hi Ken!!!

Thank you for the kind compliments!!!

It certainly was a chore carring in all of the Plumies, cactus and others things..(DR's) too! I was thinking of leaving a few outside, but at the last minute...i couldnt do it.

They will not stay in that area of the house, my DH would have issues...lol i do store most in a back room when they are trimmed for the dormant cycle. Some will go in the greenhouse and i will coontinue to let them grow. They just do very well for me the way i prepare them to "go to sleep " for the winter....

The palms did great..only a few fronds broken on the Pindos, but otherwise all ok! We had the wind and the tidal surge..all up north of us has the flooding.

Hope all is well with you!

Oh, the Dr's have gone crazy after i cut them back hard, they are in the "Gritty mix" and love it! I have seed pods on two of the already...i have before and after after i finally got the nerve to cut them back...I had a good friend twisting my arm.. :) about them needing to be trimmed. It was the right thing to do. So hard to prune things... but the trees do appreciate it with fuller leaves and more limbs! Equals....healthier plnats/trees!!!

Greg,

You all did have some wind, but you all sure did get the rain and the flooding..especially north of you all. Vermont had it bad. We we really lucky that it stayed a cat 1 and not a 2 or 3...if it is larger than a 2 or 3 we are leaving.

No reason to be a hero for nothing!!! I would rather not see everything being taken down and have our lives.. than to stay like some and think its a good idea to "protect" your property... I have to laugh at those people...they havent been throughh many hurricanes when they have those attitudes...LOL One day, they will learn. Just ask the poeple on the Outer Banks...they know to pack it up and even move their boats into the intercoastal canal to protect them.

Stay safe everyone..

Flying today and again tomorrow...sad day for many

Never Forget!!!

Take care,

Laura in VB

I finally posted some photos of what Irene did here in the damage report thread.

Laura, where do you get your ingredients for the "gritty mix"? Do you use the chicken grit? I found a place up here to get Turface, but very hard finding anything like crushed granite. The closest I have come is a tractor supply co that sells 'chicken grit' which is supposedly the same thing? I need some for my potted trees. (2 Japanese maples and several conifers.

Hey Ken,

I found my Granigrit at the local Feed and seed in VB They sell it as a "chicken grit" but is is labeled Granigrit.."growers size" that is what is important. you want it small enough to match the appropriate size of the turface and fir bark. Growers size is the best for me. Some even use Cherrystone # 2 size.

If you cant find it around your area let me know...i can help you...But it is used for the poultry in the digestion. so what that person said about the chicken grit should be what u are looking for. Crushed granite.

Let me know. I can send you some, or when i come up to Alexandria to pick up a Plumie from a friend, i will be bringing another Plumeria friend some Turface. So i will be more than happy to throw some granigrit in the truck for you!!!

Take care,

Laura in VB

Hi Laura!, Well, when are you coming up this way? I would be more than happy to pay for any bags of it and throw in some extra for gas for you!

I have not been able to find that anywhere up here to save my life. I asked for Gran I Grit, and they didnt know what I was talking about, and this was at a tractor supply co. They knew what chicken / poultry grit was tho. Go figure. That store was in Harrisonburg, VA. I think that is the closest one where I could find anything remotely similar.

There IS one place up here that I have been able to find Turface, however I lost their information. Im going to try to find the place again. The only thing I remember about them was that they were located in Gaithersburg, MD.

Anyway, feel free to email me. I also may have something else for you, but it just depends on our move so not totally sure yet. ;-)

Hey Ken,

i am looking at sometime in October....

Hope that works for you, i was trying to head up in August, but with all of our schedules, Hurricane...it didnt work for me and my Plumie friend.

I will be most happy to put some granigrit and some turface for you.

Ill look at my schedule for OCt and let you know...ill email you and you can tell me what you need.

Then i can tell you a date!!!

Hope all is well with you all in Northern VA!

Take care,

oh, Thanks for the great remarkable story that you shared, i was really moved by it as well as others here...

Thanks for sharing one unbelievable story....

Laura in VB